tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post1900456908053392446..comments2017-09-24T13:29:50.565-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: Serious Flaws with a George Washington ComicJ. L. Bellnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-87324157800758725662009-10-02T06:45:15.810-05:002009-10-02T06:45:15.810-05:00@Geoff Elliott: I think viewing our founders as de...@Geoff Elliott: I think viewing our founders as deity makes some sense because of the great lengths they went to free us from a tyrannical king. I believe that they were truly great men with resolve and passion that allowed them to pull together a nation of men dedicated to unity instead of the rabble that stir up trouble to make the king mad. I do not consider them gods by any means, however. They were just men. I do wish more of our congress had the fire and grit that the Continental Congress did. Perhaps we would be a stronger, healthier nation.<br /><br />@Ross Watton: Thank you for your candor and honesty. <br /><br />Although I have yet to read the comic I am on a mission to find it now that I have read this blog and the comments. Not because I believe it will be perfectly accurate, but because I hope that it will spark my 9-year-olds interest enough to seek more.digital dragonflyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06880558635895683216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-40598772835735816152008-04-24T19:14:00.000-05:002008-04-24T19:14:00.000-05:00Thank you, Ross Watton, for your thoughtful commen...Thank you, Ross Watton, for your thoughtful comments. I appreciate how you had limited input into how the <I>George Washington</I> volume approached its subject. It’s too bad you got limited reward out of the project, and I hope this work led to books with better pay and retained copyrights. <BR/><BR/>I was struck by the beauty of your artwork, especially compared with some of the other history comics I was seeing. I sampled the images of <A HREF="http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2007/11/george-washington-gets-comics-treatment.html" REL="nofollow">Washington as surveyor and a Native war dance</A> first to show the book’s warm colors and lines, second because it showed how the images aren’t pinned down by panel borders, and finally to show the caption narration. <BR/><BR/>Although that image fit a pattern I perceived in both text and art on the depiction of African-Americans, I don’t think this image alone has to be read that way. For one thing, given that Washington was (a) the book’s subject, (b) often in charge, and (c) usually the tallest man in the room, it would be hard <I>not</I> to show him dominating a gathering. Furthermore, that image showed the young black man assisting with surveying, a skilled art. <BR/><BR/>I don’t think the American market would have balked at seeing a few more of Washington’s warts, especially since he was constantly trying to improve and usually succeeded. But then I wasn’t putting my money on the line with this book.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-15626653500377431802008-04-24T17:24:00.000-05:002008-04-24T17:24:00.000-05:00I am Ross Watton, the illustrator of the George Wa...I am Ross Watton, the illustrator of the George Washington Graphic Novel. The first thing I should say, is it was my first outing in the GN genre, as I am really an oil painter and not a comic book illustrator. I went on to complete another three volumes, in this series. Following immediately on from the previous. Each one took about 3 months of intensive work, following the designer's rough layouts. Sadly illustration work, is not highly regarded, or paid in the UK. While I also had to sign all rights to the artwork over to David West's Children's Books, whom then went on to sell it to other countries, for which I received nothing. As for the content of the Washington book, it was a 'done deal' by the time it came to me. I agree it is totally biased in favor of GW. I knew very little about the man, before I began, so had to learn as much as I could while illustrating. This included purchasing 2 DVD's, one on Benedict Arnold, the other on GW. These were dramas, so probably not too factually based. I found all the research into uniforms and weapons very interesting and tried to make it as accurate, varied and pleasing as possible. I hold up my hand as guilty, for showing the wrong French Flag. Though in my defense, I would say that it was used as a recognition devise, for where that scene was, as we had jumped continents. Not many would have recognized the original French flag. As for the illustrations putting black people into a subservient position, the fact that it came out that way was not intentional. If you look at the picture of GW surveying, there is a huge inset box showing another scene in it, so one is forced to place subjects where one can. Compositionally, that picture is based on a pyramid/ triangular structure, where the main element in this case GW is at the top. Which in that instance you would actually expect him to be, to obtain the best view for his surveying. I can only apologize if picture content appears to be giving another subliminal message.<BR/>Unfortunately, a book like this is limited in several ways as to what it can cover. I don't think it was meant to be taken as the total summing up of GW's life, warts and all. Perhaps some bad points should have been included for the sake of balance. I suspect they were not, because it was considered they would effect sales in the US. I believe the main objective of these books, is to encourage boys to read. Whether they actually learn anything close to the truth, was probably only a secondary consideration. I once showed the book to another publisher, to which he remarked, 'I cannot imagine who would by such a book'. I did a fourth book about Roman Mythology, where I designed all the illustrations, ( but still got the same fee). I have never been asked to do anymore by David West, as I refused to sign the contract handing over my artistic rights. Such is life.Ross Wattonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-15897673932287131362007-11-20T11:35:00.000-05:002007-11-20T11:35:00.000-05:00The saddest part of that hagiography of many of th...The saddest part of that hagiography of many of the Founders, I think, is that they don't actually need it. <BR/><BR/>Why leave Fort Necessity out of the story of George Washington when it shows how he grew as a person? Why leave out slavery when he handled that tough issue better than almost all of his planter contemporaries? <BR/><BR/>Including those shadows on his portrait would create a more complicated image, to be sure, but also a more rounded and ultimately admirable one.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-69731875800409820332007-11-20T11:06:00.000-05:002007-11-20T11:06:00.000-05:00This comic is a further example of the deification...This comic is a further example of the deification of our nation's founders, especially of George Washington. This of course began with Mason Weems' fanciful book and has continued to this day. This deification does a disservice to everyone. Our founders were not without flaws and were not the demi-gods we were taught about in school.<BR/><BR/>Thank you for your review of this comic. <BR/><BR/>http://abrahamlincolnblog.blogspot.comGeoff Elliotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07861071117040254491noreply@blogger.com